HMRC annual report and accounts 2015/16

HMRC’s latest annual report and accounts show total revenues collected in 2015/16 of £536.8bn, which is an increase of £19.1bn (or 3.7%) compared with 2014/15 (see http://bit.ly/29Tk0OL). The report breaks this down as follows:

·         income tax (32% of total revenue) and NICs (21% of total revenue) increased by 3.8%, due to higher levels of employment;

·         VAT (22% of total revenue) increased by 1.8%, due to higher levels of consumer spending;

·         corporation tax (8% of total revenue) increased by 9.9%; and

·         hydrocarbon oils (5% of total revenue) increased by 1.8%, due to reduced pump prices leading to an increase in sales.

The remaining 12% of total revenue was made up of stamp taxes, alcohol and tobacco duties, CGT, IHT and APD. Significant increases included:

·         CGT increased by 28% (£1.8bn);

·         IHT increased by 7.9% (£0.3bn); and

·         IPT increased by 27.6% (£0.8bn).

Revenues recovered through compliance activities amounted to £26.6bn.

HMRC expenditure totalled £3.58bn, of which £2.25bn represents staff costs (63% of total expenditure). Despite an increase in expenditure of £120m from the previous year, the cost of collecting taxes fell from 0.58p to 0.55p for each pound collected.

HMRC’s three main objectives were:

·         maximise revenues and bear down on avoidance and evasion;

·         transform tax and payments for its customers; and

·         design and deliver a professional, efficient and engaged organisation.

Separately, HMRC has published its provisional details of its performance against customer service standards for 2015/16, under the heading ‘Business plan indicators’ (see http://bit.ly/29LCb97).

·         Post handling: HMRC’s two main targets for measuring its performance in clearing post were: to clear 80% within 15 working days from receipt; and to clear 95% within 40 working days. Actual performance ranged from 31% in May 2015 to 70% in the last four months, giving an overall figure for 2015/16 of 52%.

·         Telephone call handling: HMRC’s target for phone calls was to answer a consistent 80% of calls across all helplines. Actual performance for 2015/16 was 72% of calls answered.

HMRC had acknowledged in May, following a damning National Audit Office report, that its service levels for personal taxpayers fell well below what was expected in the early part of 2015/16.